PORT ELIZABETH – Mount Road police has noted with concern the circulation on social media about an abandoned baby found at the Greenacres shopping mall on Saturday, 19 October 2019.

According to the post, the child was found and taken to SAPS Mount Road and handed over to police. Police confirm that there were no such reports nor did anyone drop off any child.

Social media is a helpful medium for both the community and the police. However, the hoaxes, fake news and the dissemination of false information are causing unnecessary panic among our communities while such claims also waste the police’s valuable time and resources. Such misinformation is reckless, irresponsible and unacceptable. Police is urging social media users to verify and confirm such information with them before posting and circulating it thus avoiding the misinformation from going viral.

The SAPS calls on all who have published, seen or circulated the hoax to ignore it and to refrain from further sharing or disseminating false information.

Source: South African Police Service